14 September 2011

borders and crossroads

my new work, borders and crossroads, has just been installed in Goddard Riverside's new Bernie Wohl Center at 647 Columbus Avenue in New York. the piece honors Bernie Wohl, who was my first teacher of a particular approach to community work, when we worked together at South Side Settlement House in Columbus, Ohio. and, for many years, we worked together in New York. Bernie was a colleague and teacher, and became a member of my family. he left the planet a few years ago, and we all still miss his presence.

so, it is a piece about journeying, and a meditation on ways of transport. how do we get there from here, really? where many see borders as barriers or obstacles, some learn to embrace crossroads and to see opportunities.

it may be through the hand of an artist (in this case, a detail of a Barbara Chavous sculpture i photographed). or through extended dialogues with others (at a community meeting in La Colama, Tipitapa, Nicaragua). work is always necessary, digging deep with passion and sweat. we may travel by taxi or boat or on foot, but always with other people. it's a solitary journey, but a social one, too.